William Fouts House (December 1, 1923 – December 7, 2012) was an American otologist, physician and medical researcher who developed and invented the cochlear implant.[1][2] The cochlear implant is considered to be the first invention to restore not just the sense of hearing, but any of the absent five senses in humans.[1] Dr. House also pioneered approaches to the lateral skull base for removal of tumors, and is considered "the Father of Neurotology".[3][4]
House was heavily criticized by physicians and surgeons during much of his career. Many believed his idea of a device to electrically stimulate the ear would never work. Today, however, he is generally regarded as a hero, in that his innovative research and development led to the creation of the modern cochlear implant.[5]
House's first design for a cochlear implant was surgically implanted in 1961,[6] but the implant was rejected by the patient's body. A longer-lasting model was developed and successfully implanted in 1969, and it was introduced commercially in 1972.[1]
One of the patients treated by Dr. House was astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr. Shepard was the first American and the second person to go to space in 1961. In 1971, he became the 5th person to walk on the Moon after undergoing an endolymphatic-subarachnoid shunt procedure performed by Dr. House to treat his Ménière’s disease.
In 1987, House was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree from Whittier College.[7]
^Beck, Douglas. "News | Audiology". www.audiology.org. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
^Denworth, Lydia (2014). I Can Hear You Whisper: An Intimate Journey through the Science of Sound and Language. USA: Penguin Group. pp. 89–90. ISBN978-0-525-95379-1.
